Just seen a dog attack another dog. What should I do?

[AwkwardAnnie]

I'm not a dog owner so I don't know what the law says about these things and I'm not sure if I even need to do anything.

I was just out locally and as I was sat in the car a woman walked past with her dog on a retractable lead. Her dog was about 2-3m ahead of her.
Next to where I was there was another dog behind a gate and there was chicken wire across about the bottom foot of the gate. As the dog walking past approached there was some snarling and the next second the dog behind the gate managed to grab the other dog on the back. The dog was whimpering and couldn't get away, the owner caught up and shouted at the dog behind the gate who let go and ran off. The owner came out of the house to see what was happening, she did ask if the dog was okay, but when the owner said the dog had been bitten she just went back into the house.

The dog who had been bitten was shaking and the owner was shaking more. I asked if they were okay and if I could do anything. The owner had taken the collar off but then the dog was so jumpy she couldn't get it back on. I went to help her put the collar on, then she said she was going to take the dog straight home and get the bite cleaned up.

It was only after she'd gone that I thought I should have offered my details. Should I phone the Police? I'm concerned that there's a dog that would attack through a gate but I don't know if the Police would do anything as it was behind a gate, not roaming the streets.

[SonceyD0g]

Dog fights usually sound worse than they are. I'm sure the owner of the bitten dog will take it further if necessary.

[dotdotdot3]

I think this is a matter for your local Dog Warden - you can phone & tell them what happened and any concerns you have. If the owner of the bitten dog has also reported it then your back-up will be useful.

Either way, a good Dog Warden can go and discuss the situation with the owner of the aggressive dog. It isn't acceptable for a dog to be taking chunks out of other passing dogs. The Dog Warden would probably advise the owner to improve the security of the gate.

You can find the Dog Warden by ringing your local council - although they might not be available until after the bank holiday.

[KatharineClifton]

Par for the course with retractable leads - they are evil. I've seen people trying to split up dog fights with two dogs on these stupid leads - they do so much damage.

And yy to phoning the dog warden.

[AwkwardAnnie]

Thanks all. I'll get in touch with the dog warden, calling the police seemed a bit too strong a reaction, I'd not have thought of the dog warden.

I felt so sorry for the woman and wondered if she'd want some back up if she needed to take it further. I had a better view of what happened than she did so saw that her dog did nothing other than walk past and have a bit of a sniff at the gate, next second the other dog had hold of her dog. It's a good job the gate was there or I'd have hate to have seen the consequences.